Total Win: Kanto
by zapisthename
Summary: I didn't even want to be a Pokemon Trainer, I just took it up to impress a girl I like, but what I discovered when I started it was something that turned out to be far greater than I could ever hope. So, Magikarp is an ideal starter right? Watch me turn from a Total Fail to a Total Win, one step at a time OC, M for swearing.
1. Magikarp

**God damn, I love Pokemon. **

**So why am I writing this story, basically I wanted to make a loser first, and then break him and turn him into a total winner. Assume that the whole thing is AU because the timelines are mighty screwed up, there is going to be a few OC's but that's it.**

**There is a note at the bottom people.**

**Total Win: Kanto**

**Summary: I am not really good at this thing, but I figure a Magikarp is an awesome Pokemon to learn with. Right? Yeah, I'm going to win. OC's. AU.**

**Chapter 1**

"Pikachu use Volt Tackle" Ash Ketchum said, staring at the impressive legendary pokemon in front of it.

"Laitos, Luster Purge" said Tyson, his opponent. It was the semi-finals of the Lily Of The Valley conference in Sinnoh.

In Pewter City, way back in Kanto, Ash Ketchum's home region people stared on the television screen, hoping that Pikachu could take out Latios.

It couldn't. Both Latios and Pikachu attacked each other and a brilliant mixture of light enveloped the stadium, by the time it lifted, both Pikachu and Latios had circles in their eyes, indicating that they were knocked out.

A disappointed hush surrounded the cafe in which the match was being watched. There were several kids, mostly girls with Ash Ketchum signs who were excitedly watching, hoping that the Kanto boy could win, but he couldn't.

"It's not fair" one pretty blonde girl piped up after five minutes of silence during which Ash was congratulated by Tobias. "They can't allow him to use such strong Pokemon, they are all things of the legend, how can this be allowed" she said, trying to invoke outrage.

It worked, they were all outraged. All the local supporters of Ash Ketchum were outraged beyond belief. Meanwhile Ash Ketchum stared at the sky, already getting up from his fall, already hoping to better the next time.

This is not the story of Ash Ketchum. It's mine.

My name is Brad Armstrong, 13 years old, native of Pewter City in Kanto, my Dad works for Flint, helping him cut rocks to sell, it's a thankless job, but it pays well and someday my Dad hopes I take over from him.

The girl I like, Cindy Belfast is also a big fan of Ash Ketchum, she is the blonde who successfully invoked outrage, someday I hope to impress her. And I think I just know how.

I'm not a Pokemon fan, I'll level with you, I've never understood them, I've always thought they were slaves who should help humans with day to day chores, but my Dad and Flint feel that Pokemon should be allowed to do what they want, with whom they want. I don't particularly care, I was never really interested in the Pokemon side of our world, but I was interested in Cindy.

And Cindy was definitely interested in Pokemon. Which gave me a way to easily impress her, become a Pokemon trainer and beat that Ash Ketchum guy, win the respect and love of Cindy, retire and live happily ever after.

"It sucks what happened to Ash doesn't it" I say to Cindy as I walk up to her, man is she beautiful. She has teary eyes, I'm hoping by providing some fake sympathy, I can get in her good graces.

"Who are you?" she asks me, a confused look in her eyes.

"Brad. Armstrong?" I say, hoping she can remember, she stares at me still confused.

"Oh yeah, the drop out kid" she says to me. Sweat pools around my head, I thought they had forgotten about that nickname. You see, since I had no interest in Pokemon I was sent to a normal school, but I wasn't good at studying, I knew I was intelligent, if I could apply myself I could do well, but I didn't want to apply myself, because seriously, who cares about school.

So I dropped out, only to be sent to another school, before being sent to another school. Eventually my Dad decided that it wasn't worth wasting any money on me, he seemed really glad when he told me that because I was opting out of an education, my elder brother and the apple of the eyes of my parents would get to go to college and do all the great things that I could never do. I could cut rocks.

But was it my fault? No, it was the fault of a screwed up system, you either did well with Pokemon, or by studying, but there was no alternative and that sucked.

"Yeah" I said sheepishly, realizing that I better speak up before I screw up the meeting.

"I thought you said Pokemon suck" she said to me, an accusatory tone in her speech.

"What?" I said outraged, "Why I would never say something like that" I said to her. Her look told me that she didn't believe me.

"Whatever" she said getting up and leaving, before she left she muttered 'loser', was she intending for me to hear it? Yeah, probably.

-x-

"Fuck this" I said kicking rocks. It's not like there was anything else I could do.

I'd gone home after being snubbed by Cindy, only to find my brother Evan at home, he'd come back on vacation and was being fawned over by my parents. I figured that I'd be ignored anyway, so I just left, it's not like I would be missed.

My parents forgot me a lot, they once left me behind in the museum and it took me nine hours to show up by myself, only to get grounded for showing up late. I wanted to say that it was their fault, but it was always my fault right? I mean nothing I did could ever eclipse stupid Evan and his stupid college.

"Man, I need to get away" I said loudly, hoping that someone up there would hear me. But no one probably would.

"Did someone say get away?" an excited voice asked me.

I looked towards the voice, it was a fat man wearing a hat and a beige jacket. He looked like a sleazeball and sounded like one too.

"Would you like to get away on your own Pokemon Journey?" he asked me.

I looked at him, how was this sleaze going to help me get away from home? But since he was talking about starting a Pokemon journey, I figured how hard could it be. I might as well try this too, I know I can surely do better than that Ketchum guy.

"Sure" I said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Great" the fat man said smiling and showing me a thumbs up. "To start a journey, you need a Pokemon, and I have something I can sell you one for just a measly $200" he said to me.

I perked up, so I was just going to give up around one tenth of my savings and get a Pokemon, fuck yes I'm going to take it.

"I'll take it" I said to him. "What is this anyway?" I asked him after I handed him the money and received the Pokeball.

"Ah, it's a Magikarp" the fat salesman said, a very majestic water Pokemon indeed" he said to me, before immediately running away, thanking me as he sped away into the nearby entrance of Mount Moon.

Magikarps sound really familiar, but I couldn't recall what they were. I was sure they were awesome. The salesman sure seemed to say so.

-x-

I sped back home excited, but found the door locked. There was a note, telling me that my parents had gone with Evan to a nearby restaurant to celebrate his homecoming and that I could spend time at a friend's house.

As if I had any friends. None of the kids my age even talked to me. They all called me 'Stupid Brad Armstrong', one of my teachers called me 'Stupid Brad Headstrong', you get the point.

I stared at the Pokeball in my hand, my ignorance with Pokemon was such that I didn't even know how to get them to appear, I figured I'd just toss them, but the Pokeball just bounced before rolling down the slope in front of my house.

"Fuck" I swore loudly, I couldn't swear at home, but I sure could do it here. I ran after the slowly rolling away ball, the ball seemed on a merry path of it's own, before it promptly stopped in front of someone's foot.

I stared at the person whose foot had stopped my Pokeball. It was a girl, about my age, she was wearing a red skirt, and a blue top. A yellow bag was strapped to her shoulder. She looked pretty. Just as pretty as Cindy Belfast who was right behind her. Fuck, Cindy was right behind her.

"Oh, I am so sorry" the girl said to me, picking up my pokeball and handing it to me.

"It's not your fault" I said to her, now was my turn to be suave so that Cindy could be impressed. "I was just, ugh, trying out my brand new Pokemon" I said to her, "And my ball slipped from the fingers" I said rubbing my hair.

"Cool" she said, perking up instantly. "Wanna battle?" she asked me.

Cindy was looking at this girl, shaking her head. "Leaf, that is not a good idea" she said to this girl, who I just found out was called Leaf.

"Why not? He's a trainer" she asked her. Cindy just sighed, before signalling Leaf to just do whatever she pleased.

"Hi" the girl named Leaf said. "My name is Leaf Green, and I have just won a badge from Pewter City" she said to me, smiling. "Do you accept my challenge?" she asked me.

"Yeah" I said. How hard could it be, beating a girl.

"Alright" she said, pressing a button at the center of the PokeBall before throwing it towards the ground, so that's how that was done.

"Go, Wartotle" she said. From the Pokeball emerged a turtle type Pokemon, a Wartotle apparently. It looked pretty menacing.

"Ha" I said, I was sure my own awesome Pokemon would deal with this, I pressed the button in the center of the Pokeball and threw it on the ground, revealing a Magikarp.

It looked weird, it was a red fish, and it flapped on the ground pretty uselessly.

Leaf did not seem impressed, but Cindy just started laughing. Cindy's laughter caused Leaf to start laughing.

"Oh God" Cindy said in between laughs. "A loser Pokemon for a loser" she said to me, gasping.

Now I know I don't let the world bother me much, I don't care if my parents and brother think I'm a loser, I don't care if the world calls me a drop out, but to hear it from my crush seemed to, well, crush me.

"Alright" I said, getting angry. "Magikarp, use water gun" I said to my fish thing. It just uselessly flopped about, not doing anything. What the fuck?

"Magikarps can't use Water Guns loser" Cindy said to me laughing. Even that stupid turtle Wartotle was laughing at me.

"Who gave you this Pokemon?" Leaf asked me.

"I bought it-"

"-from that fat salesman?" she asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, you've been conned. You really are stupid" she said to me. "But since this is a battle, I'll finish it. Wartotle, use bite" she said to her turtle.

"Get away Magikarp" I said to the fish, but it just flopped about uselessly. Great.

The turtle bit my Magikarp and that was it, it was knocked out.

I recalled Magikarp into my Pokeball, tears starting to flow from my eyes. Cindy was still laughing, calling me a loser every five seconds, Lead laughed at first but it seemed like she didn't find it funny anymore. I ran away to hide my tears, I don't know how long I ran.

-x-

"YOU SUCK" I said shouting at the Magikarp. It seemed to flop about sadly, I didn't care.

"YOU ARE USELESS, YOU ARE WORTHLESS" I said to it. "Fuck you" I said to it before kicking it. It made a painful sound before hitting a rock.

"Why does this happen to me?" I asked no one in particular. The Magikarp was knocked out. I was crying, I had not cried in a long time, but today in a long time I realized that I was useless, just like everyone had been telling me for all this time.

"No wonder I have no friends" I cried. "Who'd be friends with someone like me? Who'd be friends with this idiot?" I said, slapping myself, because I felt like I deserved it.

I must have cried for fifteen minutes before deciding that being a Pokemon trainer was not for me, and then I left, going back home.

-x-

As I walked back home, I saw someone close by. I was feeling naked, I just wanted to go home and bury myself in the shame of having lost my savings on a fucking worthless Pokemon. And then I walked upon him. It was an old man, his hair was white and long, his clothes dirtied.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. He ignored me. "Sir?" I asked him.

"I'm looking for my Floette" he said to me.

A Floette? Another stupid Pokemon. Yeah, who cared.

"I have been looking for years" he said to me.

"That is stupid" I said to him. "Just catch a new one" I said to him. Suddenly he looked outraged.

"I can't catch a new one" he said to me. "You insolent child, what do you know, what it feels like, to love someone and lose them?"

"You're in love with a Pokemon?" I asked him incredulous. "Ha! Lame" I said to him.

"Spoken like a person who has never been loved" he said to me. I stared at him before walking away.

-x-

"So what is going on with your life drop out?" Evan asked me. I stared at him, I would have come up with a witty retort, but I couldn't, the loss I had today in my first ever Pokemon battle made sure that I couldn't outwit my brother.

"Nothing is going on" my mother kindly answered for me, of course, I'm being sarcastic. I do not want my mother to answer for me. Because I know what happens after we have this conversation, we have the 'my life is going nowhere' conversation, that leads into the 'you are useless' conversation. This day wasn't going to pan out any differently.

But it didn't. They didn't say anything, they just ignored me and moved on, the whole conversation was focused around my brother. It felt like they had given up on me. Just like I had given up on Magikarp.

Fuck.

-x-

I had managed to get away from home, my parents didn't seem to care that I was leaving, I guess fawning over Evan was more important.

I found my Magikarp just where I'd left it, it was still flopping about pretty uselessly, except there seemed to be several Pidgey's swarming it. Now Pidgey's were pretty common in our land, so were Spearow's. I knew what they could do, and I knew that they would eat Magikarp alive.

"Magikarp" I called out to it. It stared at me, as did the wild Pidgey. "I'm sorry Magikarp, I'll work on your forgiveness later okay, so return" I said to it, trying to call it back into my Pokeball, except it dodged, it moved away. It did not want to return.

"Come on Magikarp, I just said I'm sorry" I said, trying to recall it, the laser beam seemed to miss it completely.

"Please" I said to it. The wild Pidgey just stared at us, I'm sure I looked funny to them.

"Magikarp, I have never said this to anyone, but you're not the useless one, I really am" I said to it, tears threatening to fall again. "I've spent my life not being good at anything and just making up excuses, but with you I won't make any excuses, I am a horrible person, I deserve punishment, and you can leave me later, but for now, please, let me take care of you, because these wild idiots will eat you alive"

"Magikarp" the fish said to me, it tone sounded different.

The wild Pidgey's dived towards the Magikarp and in that instant I knew what to do.

"Fuck this" I said diving over my Magikarp and covering it with my body while the Pidgey's mercilessly tackled into me.

"I thought birds were herbivores" I said shouting helplessly.

I seemed to be mercilessly pelted by Pidgey's for hours and hours before a familiar voice rang out.

"Golurk"

And then, in one fell swoop, all the wild beasts were gone.

"You alright kid?"

I turned to look around, and I found myself face to face with a giant, golem like behemoth, and that old man from before.

"That was brave, and stupid" he said to me. I just looked at him, actually I couldn't, my eyes were blinded by tears, due to the pain I was feeling right now. I slowly got up, my Magikarp lay there, unharmed, it seemed to have stopped flopping about uselessly.

"I am going to look for my Floette, do you understand why?" the old man asked me.

I nodded. Suddenly, I felt something in my chest, not pain, something pleasant.

"That good feeling" he said to me. "It's a feeling of positive emotions and thoughts, it happens when you do something selfless, you should try more often, it's the best high in the world"

The best high? Does this old geezer think I do drugs or something?

"There is no useless Pokemon in this world, there are just useless trainers, with the right kind of training, even the most useless looking Pokemon can be strong" he said to me.

And then it hit me, why Ash Ketchum was so successful, even after he lost, he picked himself up, his Pokemon loved him, no one loved me, but now I had a chance, I looked at my Magikarp, and I smiled.

I don't think Magikarps can smile, because this one just flopped about excitedly.

"Do you want to, ugh, be my Pokemon? Still?" I asked him. The Magikarp flopped about excitedly.

"Alright" I said, happy for the first time in a long time. "Return" I said calling Magikarp back. It willingly went in.

"I hope you find Floette" I said to the old man.

"I plan on it" he said to me before leaving.

I need to go and read up on Magikarps. I wonder if there is a book for that.

* * *

**To all the few people who actually make it to the end, please leave a review, now let me explain myself and what you will see from this Fic.**

**Not many OC's: The main character is one, but he's not overpowered, in fact, he's an idiot. A well meaning idiot, but he'll learn from his mistakes. **

**Shipping: It's not going to be with Cindy Belfast for sure.**

**Brad's Pokemon: Magikarp will actually evolve pretty fast, the Magikarp was his first Pokemon only to show how stupid he is, but the Magikarp is also a sign that Brad is someone with amazing potential. He won't catch every Pokemon, but he'll catch more than Ash catches in the anime. I'm not one for nicknames, so, there won't be any.**

**If you've read this and liked it, review and follow, read my other (mostly) Naruto stories if you're into that fandom. At this moment I plan on updating pretty regularly.**


	2. PIdgey

**Here is chapter two, note at the bottom.**

* * *

"Alright Magikarp" I said, my patience wearing thin as time went on, it seemed extremely difficult to explain anything to this thing, all it did was flop. "Now you see this apple in my hand?" I asked him, it flopped about excitedly, do karps even eat apples?

"Good" I said smiling, maybe food will excite this thing.

"Do you want this apple Magikarp?" I asked it. It seemed to nod, by flopping about. "Then jump and get it" I said, and the Magikarp, finally motivated by the food jumped up from ground and tackled me to the ground, before promptly munching on the apple, it couldn't eat much cause it seemed to be flopping about at the time.

"Hey" I said, indignantly. "That apple was not supposed to be eaten" I said as I snatched the apple from it's mouth.

That only seemed to piss off this Magikarp. It stopped for a bit before glowing white, and attacking me.

"Waah" I ducked as the Magikarp went directly over my head, and collided straight onto a Pidgey behind me.

The Pidgey was instantly knocked out.

"Wow Magikarp" I said praising it as I gave it the apple. "You have an attack, what is this called anyway?" I wondered.

"It's Flail, that's it's name" a voice behind me said. I turned around, it was that Leaf girl who had laughed at me yesterday.

"That's actually impressive, generally Magikarp don't do much apart from splashing uselessly, but this one knows Flail. I guess you got lucky" she said to me. I grit my teeth. Losing to her was a bitter pill I did not want to swallow.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"I wanted to apologize, I'm sorry for laughing, I got carried away" she said to me, she sure sounded apologetic.

"I would have done the same, don't worry about it" I said, trying to get her to leave.

"Can I make it up to you?" she asked me, before putting her hands in her bag and ruffling around, and pulling out an empty Pokeball.

"You seem to be knew at this thing, but you need more than one Pokemon" she said to me, pressing the button and expanding the Pokeball magically. That actually looked pretty cool, she tossed it over to me as I caught it in my hands.

"You knocked out that Pidgey, even if it was by accident" she said to me. "You should catch it" she said to me. "Throw the ball at it"

"Alright" I said as I threw the ball at the still knocked out Pidgey. The ball opened and pulled the bird inside before shutting. It seemed to wobble before coming to a settling halt.

"That's a successful capture" she said to me. "Congratulations, that is your first captured Pokemon"

I looked at the now still pokeball before walking up to it and picking it up. This was the first time I had achieved something, even if it was by accident. I was going to make this Pokemon thing count. Believe that.

"Yes" I screamed jumping up. "I captured a fucking Pidgey"

"Karp-Karp"

* * *

**Total Win: Kanto**

**Chapter 2: Pidgey**

* * *

Leaf left soon after helping me catch Pidgey, which meant I was left to myself again, I decided to not make the same mistake I made with Magikarp and check and see if this Pidgey could actually do anything.

I sent out the Pidgey, it materialized flapping it's wings, it was small and also made a loud flapping sound.

"Okay" I said to Pidgey, it listened to me keenly. "Now I am new to this Pokemon training thing" I said to it, it kept flapping it's wings.

"I will make mistakes" I said to it. "But I want to do well, so will you help me?" I asked it.

"Pidgey" it cried out before settling down on my shoulders and pecking me on the cheek. I guess it licked me?

"Cool, now I want you to meet my other Pokemon" I said as I sent out a Magikarp.

The next five minutes were spent watching Pidgey laughing at Magikarp as it flopped about, eventually it got pissed and tried to Flail on Pidgey again, this time the Pidgey was much more aware and dodged the attack.

"Hey" I screamed, causing both the pokemon to stop. "Calm down, you are supposed to be friends. Apologize to each other" I said to them. Pidgey bowed it's head down in shame, Magikarp just flopped about, before it let out a small cry and stopped flopping about.

"Alright good, now that you two have made up, it's time to go look for some food, real food I can feed you" I said to them before recalling them and walking my way home.

-x-

"Mom" I asked my mother, she was busy in the Kitchen, cooking.

"I'm sorry Brad, dearie, but Evan's girlfriend is coming over and we need to prepare a nice dinner for her" she said to me.

"What?" I asked her.

"I know, I couldn't believe it either, isn't it great?" she asked me.

"Yeah" I said, not sure how I should react. "I just wanted some money to buy some stuff, can I get it?" I asked her.

"Sure" she said dismissively. "Take some for my purse"

My parents apparently didn't even care enough to ask me why I was borrowing the money, I pulled out some money, hoping to get a book on Pokemon or something that could tell me more about the one's I had. Meanwhile I hoped to buy some Pokemon food that I could use to take care of these things too.

-x-

"Hey loser" I stared up to look at who it was, it was my brother, with Cindy Belfast.

"What are you doing here Evan?" I asked him, trying to ignore Cindy, ever since I cried in front of her, I had blown all my chances with her and now there was no point in trying anything around her.

"Hey little brother, apparently you became a Pokemon trainer last night, and sucked at that too" he said to me. I stared at him, he was right, so there was nothing I could do.

"Yeah, I suck" I said to him. My reply must have caught him off guard because he did not say anything as I began walking away.

"Hey, Brad wait up" he said to me, running to catch up. "My girlfriend is a famous Pokemon trainer, maybe she can help you out?" he asked me.

"Why are you offering that?" I asked him back, "It's not like you care anyway"

I didn't really want to stay around Evan anymore so I walked away towards the Pokemon Market, there has to be something there I can use.

I had never been inside this Mart before, but it was incredible. I bought ten Pokeballs, some food for bird Pokemon and fish Pokemon, which I knew Magikarp and Pidgey would like. I was walking around looking for a book when I came across a red colored device.

The board under it seemed to read 'Pokedex: The Pokemon Encyclopedia', it was also pretty cheap if the trainer had a few Pokemon, so I decided to get that, it couldn't hurt right?

I walked out of the store, happy with my purchase

-x-

"Alright, so it says press button to scan, this should be easy" I said as I held up the Pokedex in front of the Magikarp.

"Magikarp, The Fish Pokemon" the Pokedex said, in a robotic voice "It is virtually worthless in terms of both power and speed. It is the most weak and pathetic Pokémon in the world"

My face fell when I heard the description, talk about being harsh. Pidgey seemed to be reveling in Magikarp's misfortune. "Okay, time to scan you, Pidgey"

"Pidgey, Tiny Bird Pokemon, A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand."

Okay, that wasn't too bad was it. Now I was told that I had to go the Pokemon Center and register as a trainer, so I guess that was my next item on the agenda.

"I see you bought a Pokedex" it was that girl again, hadn't she made up for laughing at me, what did she want now?

"Do you know you can use the Pokedex to see what moves a Pokemon knows too?" she asked me. I shook my head, indicating no, I did not know that, but there is a first time for everything.

"Go ahead" she said to me as I scanned the Pokemon. Magikarp knew how to Tackle, Splash and Flail. Pidgey on the other hand could use Gust, Tackle, Wing Attack and Sand Attack.

I looked at the moves and what they did, and I realized that Sand Attack didn't do any damage, but it was mighty effective at reducing accuracy, that was good because I was a big fan of playing dirty to win, and I was going to do that.

"So how about it?" she asked me, I was engrossed in learning what the moves did and I had completely stopped listening to her.

"What?" I asked her dumbly. Her face immediately turned red, not with shyness, but with-

"WHAT THE HELL. DON'T YOU LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHEN THEY TALK TO YOU?"

Rage.

It took her five minutes to calm down, after which I found out that she had a Pidgey too and wanted to fight me with hers, her Pidgey was better trained, but I figured that I might as well take a second shot, maybe I can actually win this one.

"Alright" she said. "This is a one on one, my Pidgey vs yours" she said to me, sending out her Pidgey, I sent out mine.

"You can take the first move rookie" she said to me. I nodded, trying to ignore the rookie remark.

"Pidgey go for tackle" I said as my Pidgey moved towards it's opponent, it had pretty decent speed. Meanwhile Leaf's Pidgey moved out of the way.

"Alright" I said, "Use Sand Attack" as Pidgey began flicking sand from the ground towards it's opponent.

"Pidgey" Leaf called out, "Run through the sand and use Wing Attack"

Her Pidgey moved towards mine, not even flinching as sand went into it's eyes. It just ignored the sand and began pounding my Pidgey with it's wings.

"Pidgey" I said. "Weather the storm". Pidgey cried out, in something I think was excitement as it continued getting smacked in the face while trying to desperately fling sand into it's opponents face.

"Now Move" I shouted as Pidgey jumped. Green's Pidgey completely missed, the sand had done it's trick.

"We got them" I shouted. "Wing Attack time" I said as my Pidgey attacked her's.

"Keep moving Pidgey" I called out, "Don't stay in one place while hitting it"

It took five minutes, but eventually my Pidgey finally knocked out Leaf's. I had just won my first Pokemon battle. I was so busy celebrating I didn't see Leaf leave.

-x-

I felt like singing a song, because I'd just won a battle. Hey, even if Leaf was stupid, I won at something, and that was unbelievable, I can't believe there is something I am good at, I rule.

As I came back home I saw Evan holding hands with an attractive woman, who was clearly older than him. She had purple hair tied in four buns, she looked kinda..French? I don't know what Evan did to manage to land her as a girlfriend, maybe it would be worth asking him.

"Ah there you are Brad" Evan said to me excitedly, "I want you to meet someone, this is my girlfriend, Fantina. She is the Gym Leader of Hearthrome City in Sinnoh. Have you heard of it?" he asked me.

I shook my head no, I might have heard passing mentions, and I knew that Evan went to a college in Jubilife City, but I've never been there. My parents wanted to visit, but I declined fearing that I'd be unwelcome there, I knew I'd get bored.

"Oui, Yes" she said. She held out her hand to shake mine. "Enchante Brad" she said to me, shaking my hand vigorously once I offered her mine. She looked really impressed.

"You seem nervous" I said to her.

"I just want to make a good first impression" she said to me. I smiled at her.

"Don't worry, now that I'm eating dinner with you guys, there is no way you'll be the worst person at the table"

Evan and Fantina stared at me, looking dumbfounded.

"What?" I asked them before heading inside, it was getting pretty late and I was sure I'd heard my mom say that dinner was served.

-x-

"So Brad, tell Fantina about your first Pokemon battle" Evan told me, we were eating dinner and it seemed to be going well, Fantina was a hit with my parents, I just kept my mouth shut, so I was also doing my job properly, I only spoke when spoken to, and I figured I should say something. I hadn't told my parents that I had begun Pokemon training, and they looked at me, curious expressions on their faces.

"There is nothing to say" I told Evan, "I lost, pretty badly too, I mean you must have heard Cindy talk about it, she found my loss really funny"

"She didn't say much, she was laughing, but that is to be expected, I mean it was only your first battle right?" Evan asked me.

I just grit my teeth, I did not like being reminded of my failures.

"Oh, come on Brad" Fantina urged, "Show us your Pokemon then"

"Fine" I sighed as I let lose my Pokeballs, Magikarp and Pidgey came out, both of them landed on the ground.

"Guys" I said to them, "I want you to meet my family" I said to them.

"Did you fight your first battle with a Pidgey?" Fantina asked me.

"No" I said to her, and a knowing look came on her face.

"You were conned into that Magikarp weren't you?" she asked me. I nodded my head. "Yeah, we have some salesmen who do that in Sinnoh as well, they sell Feebas and Magikarp"

"Okay, so you can't even do this right" my father said to me.

"Excuse me?"

"You got conned, why didn't you ask us for permission before you set out to become a Pokemon Trainer Brad?" my mom asked me.

"I wasn't aware I needed your permission, I was going to take my leave soon anyway, set out on my own journey" I told her. My mom did not seem to take that well.

"So will you be participating in Gym battles?" Fantina asked me with a hopeful tone in her voice, maybe she wanted to take me on in a Gym Battle.

"I don't know, I haven't decided" I said to her honestly, I hadn't.

"Great, so you haven't even decided what you want to do and you expect us to agree with you and let you go on a journey?" my dad asked me, he was getting angry.

"What is wrong with you people?" I asked everyone at the table, banging the table. The banging upset my Magikarp and Pidgey who began flopping about, Pidgey flapped it's wings.

"No, what is wrong with you Brad?" my mom shouted. "You are too young to start on a journey, you can't even take care of yourself now, who's to say you don't have a change of heart and decide to abandon this, just like you have abandoned everything else"

"Fuck" I shouted as I recalled my Pokemon. "You know what Mom, what I can't understand is why all of a sudden you seem to care, I mean haven't you given up on the drop out kid already?" I asked them. "What's the big deal here? It's pretty obvious you guys don't actually care" I said as I stormed out.

As I left the room, I heard Evan apologize to Fantina for dragging her into our family drama.

-x-

I didn't have time to pack my bag with clothes, just the bare essentials were enough, I'd leave home and then go see the world, maybe battle my Pokemon, make a living so that I never have to depend on my parents again.

As I began walking towards Uncle Flint's rock polishing factory, I came across two burglars, they seemed to be carrying a sack full of something.

"Hey" I called out to them, causing them to stop in their tracks.

"Oh no, we've been caught" a male voice said.

"Shush" said a female voice, "Let's deal with this pest" she said as she sent out a Pokemon. It was a Rattata.

"Rattata" My Pokedex stated as I pulled it out. "The Mouse Pokemon, Its fangs are long and very sharp. They grow continuously, so it gnaws on hard things to whittle them down."

"Great" I said as I sent out my Magikarp.

The two cronies began laughing when they saw my Magikarp.

"Ha" the female jeered. "You are seriously going to use that? Rattata, Hyper Fang"

The Rattata came charging towards Magikarp, I knew what you had to do.

"Magikarp, brace" I said to it as Magikarp stopped flopping, screaming out in pain as Ratatta's fangs dug deep into it.

"Shake it off Magikarp" I said, Magikarp began flopping about as it jumped away, escaping the Rattata's jaws.

"Now you know what to do, Flail" I said to Magikarp as it glowed white before hitting Rattata repeatedly with it's tail fin.

Flail causes more damage when the user has lower health, and Rattata did not stand a chance, it was promptly knocked out.

"Dammit" the male cried. "I can't believe you lost to a bloody Magikarp Cassie" he said to the female.

"Way to go dumbass" I said to the male. "Thanks for telling me her first name"

"Dammit Bill" Cassie growled angrily, just before realizing that she herself had made a mistake too.

"Hold it right there" a voice called out. I turned around to see a policewoman on a bike. Yes, Officer Jenny to save the day.

"Well done Brad" Jenny said to me, "These sacks were full of Pokeballs stolen from the Pokemon center"

The two cronies realized that this distraction was the time to escape, but then something else happened.

"Haunter, mean look them"

It was Fantina, with my parents and Evan. She had a ghost like Pokemon, called Haunter apparently. And it's eyes were purple. I pulled out my Pokedex.

"Haunter, Gas Pokemon, It licks with its gaseous tongue to steal the victim's life force. It lurks in darkness for prey"

"Thank you Miss Fantina" Jenny said to her as she handcuffed the now defeated cronies. "I will return these Pokeballs to their rightful owners, thank you for your help Brad, well done" she said to me, ruffling my hair before walking away with the perps.

-x-

"Don't you ever scare me like that again young man" my mom shouted at me, before slapping me again. She had tears in her eyes as she repeatedly kissed my forehead, followed by slapping me.

"You're an idiot brother, what if something would have happened?" Evan asked me. My Dad was silent.

"But nothing happened right, I'm fine"

"Oui" Fantina said. "Your Magikarp is special, I have never seen someone use him like that, you have a gift" she said to me. "Especially because prior to yesterday you knew nothing about Pokemon" she said to me.

"Maybe a journey won't be a bad idea Dad" Evan suggested. "He seems to be capable of taking care of things"

My Dad, who upto now was silent finally smiled.

"You're right Evan"

-x-

And so I'm officially leaving home, not for a new school, but for a journey, and this time, no dropping out, no more failing. I'm going to totally win this thing.

I smiled as I walked on the path that led towards Mount Moon, I decided I'd take on the Cerulean Gym first and if I win that, I could go on take the other gyms, and finally return to take on the Pewter Gym.

"Pidgey" my Pokemon cried, Magikarp was in its ball, resting.

"What is it Pidgey?" I asked it as I looked up in the sky, where my Pidgey seemed to be pointing.

It was a giant Pokemon, a bird that seemed to leave a trail of rainbows behind it. It was gone before I could pull the Pokedex out.

I decided that I'd see it again some day.

* * *

**So the journey begins, all will be revealed in the future. As for you guys who are reading this, I have an idea I'd like to discuss.**

**Instead of treating legendary Pokemon as one of a kind, what if I make their powers a myth, and just make legendary Pokemon strong but extremely rare, that would justify at least some trainers needing to use it.**

**Anyway, the journey begins now, I really hope you read and review this.**

**Later.**


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